Fernando Ponce de Cabrera el Menor

In 1163 Fernando Ponce made a donation to the Cathedral of Zamora and in 1164 to the Benedictine monastery of San Martín de Castañeda, though his later religious patronage would focus on the Cistercians.

By April 1178 he had attained the rank of count (Latin: comes), the highest in the kingdom, and was charged with the tenencias of the Cabrera (1178–81) and Toroño (1178).

Sometime before January 1183 Fernando married Estefanía López, daughter of Lope Díaz I de Haro and Aldonza Rodríguez.

This period, the final years of the reign of Ferdinand II and the early years of that of his son, corresponds to Fernando Ponce's maximum power and influence, when he held the large and important tenencias of Extremadura (1188–92), Salamanca (1189–90), Tierra de Campos (1186–93), Valladolid (1190), and Zamora (1176, 1188–92).

In 1200 Fernando Ponce made a second donation to the Cathedral of Zamora, where his father was buried, his first in thirty-seven years.

The goat ( cabra ) was the symbol of the Cabrera family and Fernando Ponce pioneered its usage, having it drawn onto a charter of his in 1200. [ 1 ]
(The coat-of-arms pictured actually belonged to Bernard IV of Cabrera .)